Wildberries Warehouse Destroyed in Second Ukrainian Drone Strike in Tambov

A Ukrainian drone strike destroyed a Wildberries logistics center in Kotovsk, in Russia’s Tambov region, during the night of August 25–26. The fire burned the facility to the ground, according to Tambov Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov, and two people were injured: a 19-year-old man with a concussion and a 49-year-old woman with a fractured finger. 14

Wildberries confirmed the strike, evacuated the site and stopped accepting new deliveries there. The attack was the second on the same depot in just over five weeks, turning one warehouse into a symbol of the wider vulnerability of Russia’s commercial logistics network. 1314

What happened in Kotovsk

According to the regional governor, 19 drones targeted the logistics center. Air defenses reportedly intercepted 16, while three struck the building and triggered the blaze. The facility was ultimately described by Russian authorities as completely destroyed. 14

The human toll was substantially lower than in the first attack on the depot. On July 18, Russian officials reported seven deaths and 25 injuries at the Kotovsk warehouse. A separate Wildberries facility in Elektrostal, in the Moscow region, also suffered casualties during that initial wave of strikes. 7

The evacuation before the August 26 fire helped limit injuries, but the destruction of the building still removed a major storage and distribution site from Wildberries’ network.

Why Wildberries has become a repeated target

The Kotovsk strike was part of a sustained campaign against Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer. Ukrainian officials have said some of the company’s logistics centers were involved in supplying components for drone production and navigation equipment, while Kyiv has presented the attacks as part of its broader effort to hit Russian military-relevant infrastructure. Those claims are Ukrainian government assertions and are not independently established by the incident reports. 716

The operational effect on the retailer has been significant. Reuters reported that at least 20 Wildberries sites had been attacked in less than three weeks, with fires destroying inventory and disrupting distribution. Its review of satellite imagery estimated that about 1.18 million square meters of warehouse space—more than a fifth of the company’s capacity—had been damaged or destroyed. 3

Other reported attacks included a Wildberries warehouse in Samara on August 2 and additional facilities in Russia during the same period. The repeated fires have affected not only the retailer but also sellers and smaller businesses that rely on its fulfillment system. 45

The wider military and economic pressure

The attacks reflect Ukraine’s expansion of long-range drone operations against targets deep inside Russia, including logistics facilities, industrial sites and oil refineries. Reuters reported that strikes on Russian infrastructure were taking place as Ukrainian air defenses faced shortages of interceptors, while attacks on refineries contributed to fuel-supply pressure and gasoline shortages.

That does not mean every disruption to Russian fuel or commerce can be attributed to the Wildberries strikes alone. The clearer conclusion is narrower: repeated attacks are forcing Russia to defend a much broader range of rear-area sites, while commercial warehouses have become part of the country’s wartime logistics and economic-security problem.

How the strike connects to Putin’s new decree

The Kotovsk warehouse was destroyed just two days after Putin signed a decree allowing temporary state management of critical infrastructure whose owners fail to protect it adequately or restore operations promptly after an attack. The measure covers sectors including fuel and energy, industry, communications, utilities, transport and logistics. 1718

First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said the decree was not nationalization or a change in ownership. Instead, he described it as state intervention in management to address specific security tasks.

In practice, the decree gives the Russian state additional leverage over private operators. Companies responsible for strategically important facilities may face pressure to improve defenses, maintain continuity and rebuild quickly—or risk losing temporary control of their assets. The second destruction of the Kotovsk depot shows why that pressure has become urgent for Russia’s large logistics businesses, even as the precise future use of the decree remains unclear.